Flowers Press Release (1980)

The rock industry has never been famous for doing anything by the book, so it's hardly surprising that Flowers - one of the big hopes for the industry's future - looked back as far as 1957 when they planned their recording debut.

Their first single "I Can't Help Myself" was the first 10-inch disc released in this country since the heydays of the late Johnny O'Keefe. The extended play release included two versions of the song, a short one obviously aimed at the time-conscious commercial radio stations and a longer one as a bonus to the band's legion of fans.

Iva Davies (guitar, vocals), Keith Welsh (bass, vocals), Adam Hall (keyboards), and John Lloyd (drums) now look set to become one of Australia's bands of the 1980s. That prospect alone is a credit to them when the fact that they have been together only two short years is taken into consideration.

Iva Davies, who wrote "I Can't Help Myself", was busy preparing other material for Flowers' first album - "Icehouse" - when the band made its first appearance on Countdown mid-year.

'Releasing "I Can't Help Myself" on a 10-inch record was purely for novelty value' he said. 'It seems to have worked. Originally our biggest following was in Sydney, which is our base, but we've been getting around a fair bit. We've started to do well in Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane if you have a look at the sales of the record.' Flowers is a band ready to credit the early influences of each of its members and pay tribute to those influences as part of its stage presentation.

'We like to be as original as possible, but there are songs by other people that we really like doing' Davies said. 'On stage we're still doing some obscure T-Rex stuff and a few other numbers that groups like the Easybeats and the Kinks put out years ago. They're some of our really old favourites.'

Flowers, given their first national exposure by Countdown, might not have grown to the headline act status yet, but that progression seems to be only a matter of time. A tour with the Stranglers and selected appearances supporting Australian giants such as the Angels have given mass audiences a tempting taste of just what this band can do. Add to that a very realistic and refreshing attitude towards their business and some solid recording company backing and you end up with every confidence that Flowers is a group which is here to stay... at the top.